Glycosaminoglycan-antagonising MCP-1 Mutants and Methods of Using Same

ABSTRACT

Novel mutants of human monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) with increased glycosaminoglycan (GAG) binding affinity and knocked-out or reduced GPCR activity compared to wild type MCP-1, and their use for therapeutic treatment of inflammatory diseases.

The present invention relates to novel mutants of human monocytechemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) with increased glycosaminoglycan (GAG)binding affinity and knocked-out or reduced GPCR activity compared towild type MCP-1, and to their use for therapeutic treatment ofinflammatory diseases.

All chemokines, with the exception of lymphotactin andfraktaline/neurotactin which are members of the C and CX3C chemokinesubfamily, respectively, have four cysteines in conserved positions andcan be divided into the CXC or α-chemokine and the CC or β-chemokinesubfamilies on the basis of the presence or absence, respectively, of anamino acid between the two cysteines within the N-terminus. Chemokinesare small secreted proteins that function as intercellular messengers toorchestrate activation and migration of specific types of leukocytesfrom the lumen of blood vessels into tissues (Baggiolini M., J. Int.Med. 250, 91-104 (2001)). This event is mediated by the interaction ofchemokines with seven transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)on the surface of target cells. Such interaction occurs in vivo underflow conditions. Therefore, the establishment of a local concentrationgradient is required and ensured by the interaction of chemokines withcell surface glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Chemokines have two major sitesof interaction with their receptors, one in the N-terminal domain whichfunctions as a triggering domain, and the other within the exposed loopafter the second cysteine, which functions as a docking domain (Gupta S.K. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 92, (17), 7799-7803 (1995)). TheGAG binding sites of chemokines comprise clusters of basic amino acidsspatially distinct (Ali S. et al., Biochem. J. 358, 737-745 (2001)).Some chemokines, such as RANTES, have the BBXB motif in the 40 s loop asmajor GAG binding site; IL-8 interacts with GAGs through the C-terminala-helix and Lys 20 in the proximal N-loop. Other chemokines, such asMCP-1, show a significant overlap between the residues that comprise thereceptor binding and the GAG binding site (Lau E. K. et al., J. Biol.Chem., 279 (21), 22294-22305 (2004)).

In the context of the chemokine-β family of cytokines, monocytechemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a monocyte and lymphocyte-specificchemoattractant and activator found in a variety of diseases thatfeature a monocyte-rich inflammatory component, such as atherosclerosis(Nelken N. A. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 88, 1121-1127 (1991);Yla-Herttuala, S., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 88, 5252-5256 (1991),rheumatoid arthritis (Koch A. E. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 90, 772-779(1992); Hosaka S. et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 97(3), 451-457 (1994),Robinson E. et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 101(3), 398-407 (1995)),inflammatory bowel disease (MacDermott R. P. et al., J. Clin. Immunol.19, 266-272 (1999)) and congestive heart failure (Aukrust P., et al.,Circulation 97, 1136-1143 (1998), Hohensinner P. J. et al., FEBS Letters580, 3532-3538 (2006)). Crucially, knockout mice that lack MCP-1 or itsreceptor CCR2, are unable to recruit monocytes and T-cells toinflammatory lesions (Grewal I. S. et al., J. Immunol. 159 (1), 401-408(1997), Boring L. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271 (13), 7551-7558 (1996),Kuziel W. A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (22), 12053-8(1997), Lu B., et al., J. Exp. Med. 187 (4), 601-8 (1998)); furthermore,treatment with MCP-1 neutralizing antibodies or other biologicalantagonists can reduce inflammation in several animal models (Lukacs N.W. et al., J. Immunol., 158 (9), 4398-4404 (1997), Flory C. M. etal., 1. Lab. Invest. 69 (4), 396-404 (1993), Gong J. H., et al., J. Exp.Med. 186 (1), 131-7 (1997), Zisman D. A. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 99(12), 2832-6 (1997)). Finally, LDL-receptor/MCP-1-deficient andapoB-transgenic/MCP-1-deficient mice show considerably less lipiddeposition and macrophage accumulation throughout their aortas comparedto the WT MCP-1 strains (Alcami A. et al., J. Immunol. 160 (2), 624-33(1998), Gosling J. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 103 (6), 773-8 (1999)).

Since the first chemokines and their receptors have been identified, theinterest on exactly understanding their roles in normal and diseasedphysiology has become more and more intense. The constant need for newanti-inflammatory drugs with modes of action different from those ofexisting drugs support the development of new protein-basedGAG-antagonists and their use in an inflammatory set.

Since in the last years the molecular basis of the interactions of MCP-1with CCR2 and GAGs have been studied in great detail, targetedengineering of the chemokine towards becoming an effective antagonist ofMCP-1's biological action is feasible.

For this purpose several recombinant MCP-1 variants that compete withtheir wild type counterpart for glycosaminoglycan binding and showreduced or knocked out activation of leukocytes have been generated.

Consequently, one subject matter of the present invention is to inhibitleukocyte, more specifically monocyte and T cell, migration byantagonizing the GAG interaction with an MCP-1-based mutant protein inthe context of inflammatory or allergic processes.

The invention is based on engineering a higher GAG binding affinity intohuman MCP-1, either by modifying the wild type GAG binding region or byintroducing a new GAG binding region into the MCP1 protein andsimultaneously knocking out or reducing its GPCR activity, specificallythe CCR2 activity of the chemokine. This has been successfullyaccomplished with a mutant MCP-1 protein wherein a region of the MCP-1protein is modified in a structure conserving way by introducing basicand/or electron donating amino acids or replacing native amino acidswith basic and/or electron donating amino acids and optionally alsomodifying the N-terminal region of said MCP-1 protein by addition,deletion and/or replacement of amino acids and, optionally, adding anN-terminal Methionine (M) to the mutant MCP-1 protein, resulting inpartial or complete loss of chemotactic activity. Said inventive MCP-1mutants can specifically exhibit a minimum five-fold improved Kd forstandard GAGs (heparin or heparan sulfate) and they are deficient orreduced in inducing Calcium-release in standard monocytic cell culture.

MCP-1 mutant proteins showing increased GAG binding affinities andreduced GPCR activity has not been disclosed or indicated before.US2003/0162737 describes MCP-1 molecules with N-terminal deletions andreplacements with amino acids N or L at selected positions 22 and 24 fthe MCP-1 protein, yet these mutant proteins did not show theadvantageous features of the inventive MCP-1 proteins. This was also notdisclosed by Steitz S. et al (FEBS Letters, 40 (1998), pp. 158-164) whomodified only positions 13 and 18 of the MCP-1 protein. Paavola C. etal. (J. Biol. Chem., 1998, 273, pp. 33157-33165) describe only MCP-1mutants which are involved in receptor binding activity but did includemodifications to reduce GAG binding affinity of the mutant MCP-1protein.

Further, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleic acidmolecule coding for the mutant MCP-1 protein of the invention, and avector comprising an isolated DNA molecule coding for the mutant MCP-1protein, and a recombinant cell transfected with the vector.

The mutant MCP-1 protein according to the present invention can also beformulated as a pharmaceutical composition comprising the mutant MCP-1protein or a polynucleic acid molecule coding for MCP-1 mutant protein,a vector containing an isolated DNA molecule coding for the MCP-1 mutantprotein, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Said MCP-1 mutant protein or the polynucleotide coding therefor or thevector containing said polynucleotide can also be used for inhibiting orsuppressing the biological activity of the respective wild type protein.

The inventive MCP-1 mutant protein according to the invention, apolynucleic acid coding therefor or a vector containing thepolynucleotide can also be used in a method for preparing a medicamentfor the treatment of chronic or acute inflammatory diseases or allergicconditions. Preferably, the disease is selected from the groupcomprising rheumatoid arthritis, uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease,myocardial infarction, congested heart failure or ischemia reperfusioninjury.

FIGURES

FIG. 1: Sequence of MCP-1 mutants, mutations with respect to the wildtype chemokine are underlined

FIG. 2: Structural change of wtMCP-1 (FIG. 2 a) and Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21KQ23R (FIG. 2 b) upon heparan sulfate binding, as shown by far-UV CDspectroscopy

FIG. 3: Scatchard plot analysis and equilibrium dissociation constants(Kd values) of WT MCP-1 (solid squares), Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K (solidtriangles) and Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R (open circles) binding tounfractionated HS

FIG. 4: Calcium influx assay induced by 20 nM wtMCP-1 and MCP-1 mutants(20 nM each) on THP-1 cells. The changes in fluorescence emission at 495nm due to calcium mobilization induced by addition of chemokines aredisplayed: wtMCP-1 (A), Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K (B), Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21KQ23R (C) and Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R V47K (D).

FIG. 5: Chemotaxis of THP-1 cells induced by wtMCP-1 and MCP-1 mutantsat a concentration of 10 nM (error bars represent the SEM of threeindependent experiments). 1 wtMCP-1, 2 Met-MCP-1, 3 Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K,4 Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R, 5 Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R V47K.

FIG. 6: Dose-dependent inhibition of monocyte adhesion/efflux byMet-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R (described by the compound code PA05-008) asmeasured in a murine ex vivo carotide injury model.

FIG. 7: Improvement of clinical and histological scores in a rat modelof auto-immune uveitis after treatment with Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R.

FIG. 8: Effect of Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R (indicated as PA008) onischemia reperfusion injury in a murine myocardial infarct model.

FIG. 9: Nucleotide sequences of MCP-1 Y13AS21 KV47K, MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R,MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23RV47K

All dimensions specified in this disclosure are by way of example onlyand are not intended to be limiting. Further, the proportions shown inthe foregoing figures are not necessarily to scale.

It has been shown that increased GAG binding affinity can be introducedby increasing the relative amount of basic and/or electron donatingamino acids in the GAG binding region (also described in WO 05/054285,incorporated in total herein by reference), leading to a modifiedprotein that acts as competitor with natural GAG binding proteins. Thiswas particularly shown for interleukin-8. The specific location of GAGbinding regions and their modification by selectively introducing atleast two basic and/or electron donating amino acids was not disclosedfor MCP-1 protein.

Additionally, the amino terminus of MCP-1 was found to be essential forchemokine signalling through its GPC receptor CCR2. In order to engineeran MCP-1-based CCR2 antagonist, others have engineered MCP-1 in a way tocompletely knock-out GAG binding and to leave CCR2 binding intact(WO03084993A1). By these means, it was intended to block MCP-1-mediatedsignalling by blocking the CCR2 receptor on neutrophils and to preventattachment on the endothelium via the GAG chains. It was therefore notobvious to turn this approach around by blocking the GAG chains on theendothelium (by engineering higher GAG binding affinity) and to knockout the CCR2 binding of MCP-1.

The invention now provides a novel MCP1 mutant protein with increasedGAG binding affinity and reduced GPCR activity compared to the wild typeMCP1 protein, wherein a region of the MCP-1 protein is modified in astructure conserving way by insertion of at least one basic and/orelectron donating amino acids or by replacement of at least two aminoacids preferably within the native GAG binding site or within thestructural vicinity of a native GAG binding site by at least two basicand/or electron donating amino acids.

According to a specific embodiment, the modified MCP-1 protein furthercomprises a further modification of at least one amino acid of the first1 to 10 amino acids of the N-terminal region of said MCP-1 protein byaddition, deletion and/or replacement of at least one amino acidresidue.

If the native amino acids replaced by said basic or electron donatingamino acids are basic amino acids, the substituting amino acids have tobe more basic amino acids or comprise more or less structuralflexibility compared to the native amino acid residue. Structuralflexibility according to the invention is defined by the degree ofaccommodating to an induced fit as a consequence of GAG ligand binding.

According to a specific embodiment of the invention the native aminoacids replaced by basic and/or electron donating amino acids arenon-basic amino acids.

According to the definition as used in the present application MCP-1mutant protein can also include any parts or fragments thereof thatstill show chemokine activity like monocyte or T-cell chemotaxis andCa-release.

The term “vicinity” as defined according to the invention comprisesamino acid residues which are located within the conformationalneighbourhood of the GAG binding site but not positioned at the GAGbinding sites. Conformational neighbourhood can be defined as eitheramino acid residues which are located adjacent to GAG binding amino acidresidues in the amino acid sequence of a protein or amino acids whichare conformationally adjacent due to three dimensional structure orfolding of the protein.

The term “adjacent” according to the invention is defined as lyingwithin the cut-off radius of the respective amino acid residues to bemodified of not more than 20 nm, preferably 15 nm, preferably 10 nm,preferably 5 nm.

To be able to perform their biological function, proteins fold into one,or more, specific spatial conformations, driven by a number ofnon-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions,Van der Waals' forces and hydrophobic packing. Three dimensionalstructure can be determined by known methods like X-ray crystallographyor NMR spectroscopy.

Identification of native GAG binding sites can be determined bymutagenesis experiments. GAG binding sites of proteins are characterizedby basic residues located at the surface of the proteins. To testwhether these regions define a GAG binding site, these basic amino acidresidues can be mutagenized and decrease of heparin binding affinity canbe measured. This can be performed by any affinity measurementtechniques as known in the art.

Rational designed mutagenesis by insertion or substitution of basic orelectron-donating amino acids can be performed to introduce foreignamino acids in the vicinity of the native GAG binding sites which canresult in an increased size of the GAG binding site and in an increaseof GAG binding affinity.

The GAG binding site or the vicinity of said site can also be determinedby using a method as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,565comprising:

(a) providing a complex comprising the protein and the GAG ligandmolecule, for example heparan sulfate (HS), heparin, keratin sulfate,chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate and hyaluronic acid etc. bound tosaid protein;(b) contacting said complex with a cleavage reagent like a protease,e.g. trypsin, capable of cleaving the protein, wherein said GAG ligandmolecule blocks protein cleavage in a region of the protein where theGAG ligand molecule is bound, and whereby said protein is cleaved inregions that are not blocked by said bound GAG ligand molecule; and(c) separating and detecting the cleaved peptides, wherein the absenceof cleavage events in a region of the protein indicates that said GAGligand molecule is bound to that region. Detection can be for example byLC-MS, nanoHPLC-MS/MS or Mass Spectrometric Methods.

A protocol for introducing or improving a GAG binding site is, forexample, partially described in WO 05/054285 and can be as follows:

-   -   Identify a region of the protein which is involved in GAG        binding    -   Design a new GAG binding site by introducing (replacement or        insertion) at least one basic or electron donating amino acids,        preferably Arg, Lys, His, Asp and Gin residues at any position        or by deleting at least two amino acids which interfere with GAG        binding    -   Check the conformational stability of the resulting mutant        protein in silica    -   Provide the wild type protein cDNA (alternatively: purchase the        cDNA)    -   Use this as template for PCR-assisted mutagenesis to introduce        the above mentioned changes into the amino acid sequence    -   Subclone the mutant gene into a suitable expression system        (prokaryotic or eukaryotic dependent upon biologically required        post-translational modifications)    -   Expression, purification and characterization of the mutant        protein in vitro Criterion for an increased GAG binding        affinity: K_(d) ^(GAG)(mutant)≦10 uM.    -   Check for structural conservation by far-UV CD spectroscopy or        1-D NMR spectroscopy.

A deviation of the modified structure as measured by far-UV CDspectroscopy from wild type MCP-1 structure of less than 30%, preferablyless than 20%, preferably less than 10% is defined as structureconserving modification according to the invention. According to analternative embodiment, the structure conserving modification is notlocated within the N-terminus of the MCP1 protein.

The key residues relating to the GAG binding domain of wtMCP-1 are S21,Q23 and/or V47. According to the invention, the MCP-1 mutant protein maycontain at least two amino acid modifications within at least two aminoacid residues at positions 21, 23 and/or 47.

The modifications can be, for example, a substitution of, or replacementby, at least two basic or electron donating amino acids. Electrondonating amino acids are those amino acids which donate electrons orhydrogen atoms (Droenstedt definition). Specifically, these amino acidscan be N or Q. Basic amino acids can be selected from the groupconsisting of R, K and H.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, R at amino acidposition 18 can by modified by K, and/or K19 position can be modified byR and/or P8 can be modified by any amino acid substitution to at leastpartially decrease receptor binding of the modified MCP-1.

Alternatively, the MCP-1 mutant protein of the invention ischaracterized in that Y at position 13 is further substituted by anyamino acid residue, preferably by A.

Y13 and R18 were shown to be also critical residues for signalling, andthe replacement of these residues by other amino acid residues gave riseto a protein unable to induce chemotaxis. Two-dimensional 1H-15N HSQCspectra recorded on both deletion and substitution MCP-1 variantsrevealed that these mutations do not generate misfolded proteins (ChadD. Paavola et al., J. Biol. Chem., 273 (50), 33157-33165 (1998)).

Furthermore, the N-terminal methionine reduces the binding affinity ofMCP-1 for CCR2 on THP-1 cells (Hemmerich S. et al, Biochemistry 38 (40),13013-13025 (1999)) so that the chemotactic potency of [Met]-MCP-1 isapproximately 300-fold lower than of the wild type (Jarnagin K. et al.,Biochemistry 38, 16167-16177 (1999)). This is in contrast to the potentreceptor antagonist [Met]-RANTES which does not induce chemotaxis butbinds with high affinity to the receptor.

Therefore, according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, theMCP-1 mutant protein may contain an N-terminal Met. MCP-1 variantsretaining the N-terminal methionine appear to have an increased apparentaffinity for heparin (Lau E. K. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 279 (21),22294-22305 (2004)).

According to the present invention, the N-terminal region of the wildtype MCP-1 region that can be modified comprises the first 1 to 10N-terminal amino acids. The inventive MCP-1 mutant protein can also havethe N-terminal amino acid residues 2-8 deleted. Truncation of residues2-8 ([1+9−76]hMCP-1) produces a protein that cannot induce chemotaxis.

Specifically, MCP-1 mutant protein can be selected from the group ofMet-MCP-1 Y13A S21K V47K, Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R and Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21K Q23R V47K.

In order to knock out GPCR activity and at the same time to improveaffinity for GAGs, minimizing the number of modifications as far aspossible, site-directed MCP-1 mutants were designed usingbioinformatical and biostructural tools. This means, since the structureof wtMCP-1 is known, mutants were rationally designed. This means forknocking-in higher GAG binding affinity, that more GAG binding sites areintroduced into the already existing GAG binding domain by replacingamino acids which are not directly involved in GAG binding, which arestructurally less important, and which are solvent exposed by vicinityto basic amino acids such as K or R. By doing so, special attention wasdrawn to conserving the specific GAG interaction sites of MCP-1, i.e.those amino acids responsible for hydrogen bonding and van der Waalscontacts with the GAG ligand, as well as the overall fold of thechemokine to preserve the ability of the chemokine to penetratechemokine networks which relies on protein-protein interactionscontained in the surface of MCP-1.

The amino acid sequence of the modified MCP-1 molecule can be describedby the general formula:

(M)_(n)Q(PDAINA(Z1))_(m)VTCC(X1)NFTN (Z2)(Z3)I(X2)V(X3)RLASYRRITSSKCPKEAVIFKTI(X4) AKEICADPKQ KWVQDSMDHL DKQTQTPKT

wherein Z1 is selected from the group of P and A, G, L, preferably it isA,wherein Z2 is selected from the group of R and K,wherein Z3 is selected from the group of K and R,wherein X1 is selected from the group consisting of Y and A, preferablyit is A,wherein X2 is selected from the group consisting of S, R, K, H, N and Q,preferably it is K,wherein X3 is selected from the group consisting of R, K, H, N and Q,preferably it is R,wherein X4 is selected from the group consisting of V, R, K, H, N and Q,preferably it is K,and wherein n and/or m can be either 0 or 1 and wherein at least two ofpositions X2, X3 or X4 are modified.

A further aspect of the present invention is an isolated polynucleicacid molecule which codes for the inventive protein as described above.

Specifically, an isolated polynucleic acid molecule comprising anucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 7, SEQ ID No. 8 or SEQ ID No. 9 or atleast part thereof is covered, too.

The polynucleic acid may be DNA or RNA. Thereby the modifications whichlead to the inventive MCP-1 mutant protein are carried out on DNA or RNAlevel. This inventive isolated polynucleic acid molecule is suitable fordiagnostic methods as well as gene therapy and the production ofinventive MCP-1 mutant protein on a large scale.

Alternatively, the isolated polynucleic acid molecule hybridizes to theabove defined inventive polynucleic acid molecule under stringentconditions. Depending on the hybridisation conditions, complementaryduplexes form between the two DNA or RNA molecules, either by perfectlymatching or also by comprising mismatched bases (see Sambrook et al.,Molecular Cloning: A laboratory manual, 2^(nd) ed., Cold Spring Harbor,N.Y. 1989). Probes greater in length than about 50 nucleotides mayaccomplish up to 25 to 30% mismatched bases. Smaller probes willaccomplish fewer mismatches. The tendency of a target and probe to formduplexes containing mismatched base pairs is controlled by thestringency of the hybridization conditions which itself is a function offactors, such as the concentrations of salt or formamide in thehybridization buffer, the temperature of the hybridization and thepost-hybridization wash conditions. By applying well known principlesthat occur in the formation of hybrid duplexes, conditions having thedesired stringency can be achieved by one skilled in the art byselecting from among a variety of hybridization buffers, temperaturesand wash conditions. Thus, conditions can be selected that permit thedetection of either perfectly matching or partially matching hybridduplexes. The melting temperature (Tm) of a duplex is useful forselecting appropriate hybridisation conditions. Stringent hybridizationconditions for polynucleotide molecules over 200 nucleotides in lengthtypically involve hybridizing at a temperature 15-25° C. below themelting temperature of the expected duplex. For olignucleotide probesover 30 nucleotides which form less stable duplexes than longer probes,stringent hybridization usually is achieved by hybridizing at 5 to 10°C. below the Tm. The Tm of a nucleic acid duplex can be calculated usinga formula based on the percent G+C contained in the nucleic acids andthat takes chain lengths into account, such as the formula

Tm=81.5-16.6(log [NA⁺])+0.41(%G+C)−(600/N), where N=chain length.

A further aspect relates to a vector comprising an isolated DNA moleculeaccording to the present invention, as defined above. The vectorcomprises all regulatory elements necessary for efficient transfectionas well as efficient expression of proteins. Such vectors are well knownin the art and any suitable vector can be selected for this purpose.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a recombinant cellwhich is transfected with an inventive vector as described above.Transfection of cells and cultivation of recombinant cells can beperformed as well known in the art. Such a recombinant cell as well asany descendant cell therefrom comprises the vector. Thereby, a cell lineis provided which expresses the MCP-1 mutant protein either continuouslyor upon activation depending on the vector.

A further aspect of the invention relates to a pharmaceuticalcomposition comprising a MCP-1 mutant protein, a polynucleic acid or avector according to the present invention, as defined above, and apharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Of course, the pharmaceuticalcomposition may further comprise additional substances which are usuallypresent in pharmaceutical compositions, such as salts, buffers,emulgators, coloring agents, etc.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to the use of theMCP-1 protein, a polynucleic acid or a vector according to the presentinvention, as defined above, in a method for either in vivo or in vitroinhibiting or suppressing the biological activity of the respective wildtype protein. As mentioned above, the MCP-1 mutant protein of theinvention will act as an antagonist whereby the side effects which occurwith known recombinant proteins will not occur with the inventive MCP-1mutant protein. In this case this will particularly be the biologicalactivity involved in inflammatory reactions.

Therefore, a further use of the MCP-1 protein, a polynucleic acid or avector according to the present invention, as defined above, is in amethod for producing a medicament for the treatment of an inflammatorycondition. In particular, it will act as antagonist without side effectsand will be particularly suitable for the treatment of inflammatorydiseases or conditions, either of chronic or acute nature. Therefore, afurther aspect of the present invention is also a method for thetreatment of inflammatory diseases or allergic conditions, wherein theMCP-1 mutant protein according to the invention, the isolatedpolynucleic acid molecule or vector according to the present inventionor a pharmaceutical preparation according to the invention isadministered to a patient.

More specifically, the inflammatory diseases or allergic conditions arerespiratory allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, COPD,hypersensitivity lung diseases, hypersensitivity pneumonitis,interstitial lung disease, (e.g. idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, orassociated with autoimmune diseases), anaphylaxis or hypersensitivityresponses, drug allergies and insect sting allergies; inflammatory boweldiseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis;spondyloarthropathies, scleroderma; psoriasis and inflammatorydermatoses such as dermatitis, eczema, atopic dermatitis, allergiccontact dermatitis, uticaria; vasculitis; autoimmune diseases with anaetiology including an inflammatory component such as arthritis (forexample rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis chronica progrediente, psoriaticarthritis and arthritis deformans) and rheumatic diseases, includinginflammatory conditions and rheumatic diseases involving bone loss,inflammatory pain, hypersensitivity (including both airwayshypersensitivity and dermal hypersensitivity) and allergies. Specificauto-immune diseases include autoimmune hematological disorders(including e.g. hemolytic anaemia, aplastic anaemia, pure red cellanaemia and idiopathic thrombocytopenia), systemic lupus erythromatosus,polychondritis, Wegener granulomatosis, dermatomyositis, chronic activehepatitis, myasthenia gravis, psoriasis, Steven-Johnson syndrome,autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease (including e.g. ulcerativecolitis, Crohn's disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome), autoimmunethyroiditis, Behcet's disease, endocrine opthalmopathy, Graves disease,sarcoidosis, multiple sclerosis, primary biliary cirrhosis, juvenilediabetes (diabetes mellitus type I), uveitis (anterior and posterior),keratoconjunctivitis sicca and vernal keratoconjunctivitis, interstitiallung fibrosis, and glomerulonephritis (with and without nephroticsyndrome, e.g. including idiopathic nephrotic syndrome or minimal changenephropathy); graft rejection (e.g. in transplantation including heart,lung, combined heart-lung, liver, kidney, pancreatic, skin, or cornealtransplants) including allograft rejection or xenograft rejection orgraft-versus-host disease, and organ transplant associatedarteriosclerosis; atherosclerosis; cancer with leukocyte infiltration ofthe skin or organs; stenosis or restenosis of the vasculature,particularly of the arteries, e.g. the coronary artery, includingstenosis or restenosis which results from vascular intervention, as wellas neointimal hyperplasia; and other diseases or conditions involvinginflammatory responses including ischemia reperfusion injury,hematologic malignancies, cytokine induced toxicity (e.g. septic shockor endotoxic shock), polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and granulomatousdiseases including sarcoidosis.

Preferably, the inflammatory disease is selected form the groupcomprising rheumatoid arthritis, uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease,myocardial infarction, congested heart failure or ischemia reperfusioninjury.

The following examples describe the invention in more detail withoutlimiting the scope of the invention.

EXAMPLES

The carotide injury model as well as the animal models used for thepresent invention were performed in the laboratories of Prof. ChristianWeber (Universitätsklinikum Aachen).

Structural Analysis of MCP-1 Mutants Upon GAG Binding

Analysis of secondary structural elements of MCP-1 mutants by far-UV CDspectroscopy showed that the overall ratio of alpha/beta/turns wasconserved during protein design. Furthermore, protein unfolding studiesshowed that particularly Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R exhibited very similarunfolding transition parameters compared to the wild type protein,indicating similar stability of these protein variants. Also the smallsecondary structural change induced by HS binding found for wtMCP-1 wasreproduced in the MCP-1 mutants (as exemplified by the comparison ofwtMCP-1 and Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R in FIG. 1). However, the stability ofboth proteins was significantly improved in the presence of HS asdetermined by temperature-induced unfolding studies. This means thatcontrary to other chemokines, HS impacts the fold of MCP-1 variantsstronger than their secondary structure. This may be partly due to theelongated, partially unstructured form of MCP-1 in the absence of GAGswhich experiences a structure-induction upon GAG binding, leading to amore compact fold and, thus, to greater stability.

Increase in GAG Binding Affinity

We have determined the increased GAG binding affinity by surface plasmonresonance (SPR) using a Biacore 3000 system. The immobilization ofbiotinylated HS onto a streptavidin coated CM4 sensor chip was performedaccording to an established protocol (28). The actual bindinginteractions were recorded at 25° C. in PBS pH 7.4 containing 0.01%(v/v) P20 surfactant (BIAcore AB). 2.5 min injections of differentprotein concentrations at a flow rate of 60 μl/min were followed by 5min dissociation periods in buffer and a pulse of 1M NaCl for completeregeneration. The maximum response signals of protein binding to the HSsurface, corresponding to the plateaus of the respective sensograms,were used for Scatchard plot analysis and the calculation of equilibriumdissociation constants (Kd values). In FIG. 3 the Scatchard plots ofwtMCP-1 and two mutants are displayed. wtMCP-1 gave a Kd value of 1.26μM, Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K yielded 676 nM, and Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23Rgave 152 nM. This means that in the latter mutant the affinity for HShas been improved by a factor of >8. The Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KV47K mutantdid not exhibit any improvement in affinity for the natural HS ligand.

Knock-Out of GPCR Activity

In order to obtain dominant-negative MCP-1 mutants, the GPCR activity ofMCP-1 has been knocked out in addition to the improved GAG bindingaffinity. This was done by replacing the tyrosine residue at position 13by an alanine residue and by keeping the N-terminal methionine residue.This led to a complete knock-out of MCP-1-related CCR2 activity, asexemplified by the complete absence of Ca influx and Thp-1 chemotaxis inthe case of the Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R mutant (FIGS. 4 & 5). Theinability of this mutant to activate its high-affinity GPC receptor ontarget monocyte cells is expected to lead, in combination with theincreased GAG binding affinity, to a potent inhibitor of MCP-1 activityin vivo.

Inhibition of Cell Migration

The effect of Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21K Q23R on monocyte migration wasinvestigated in an ex vivo model. For this purpose, apolipoproteinE-deficient (Apoe)−/− mice were subjected to wire-induced endothelialdenudation injury after 1 week of atherogenic diet (1). After 24 hourscarotid arteries were isolated for ex vivo perfusion as described (1).Carotid arteries were preperfused at 5 μl/min with Met-MCP-1 Y13A S21KQ23R at a concentration of 1, 5 or 10 μg/ml for 30 min. Mono Mac 6 cells(1′10⁶/ml) were labeled with calcein-AM, washed twice and perfusedthrough the carotid artery. Adhesive interactions with the injuredvessel wall were recorded using stroboscopic epifluorescenceillumination (Drelloscop 250, Drello) and an Olympus BX51 microscopeafter 10 min of perfusion. By this means, a concentration dependentinhibition of monocyte adhesion by Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R was observed(see FIG. 6).

Inhibition/Improvement of Auto-Immune Uveitis

Lewis rats were immunized into both hind legs with a total volume of 200μl emulsion containing 15 μg PDSAg (retinal peptide) in completeFreund's adjuvant, fortified with Mycobacterium tuberculosis strainH37RA (BD, Heidelberg, Germany) to a final concentration of 2.5 mg/ml.100 μg Met-MCP-1Y13AS21-KQ23R mutant dissolved in 0.5 ml PBS (or PBSonly as control) was applied i. p. daily from day 1 after activeimmunization until day 19. The time course of disease was determined bydaily examination of animals with an opthalmoscope. Uveitis was gradedclinically as described (Gong J. H. and Clark-Lewis I., J. Exp. Med. 181(2), 631-640 (1995))) and the average clinical score of all eyes isshown per group and day. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the Met-MCP-1Y13AS21KQ23R mutant had a significant impact on the progression of thedisease. Since uveitis is characterized by occular accumulation ofT-cells and monocytes which finally lead to blindness, the therapeuticeffect of Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R can be assigned to its inhibition ofthe migration of CCR2-activated leukocytes which mainly constitutemonocytes and basophils.

Inhibition/Improvement of Myocardial Infarction

C57/B6 mice were intubated under general anaesthesia (100 mg/kg ketamineand 10 mg/kg xylasine, intraperitoneal) and positive pressureventilation was maintained with oxygen and isofluran 0.2% using a rodentrespirator. Hearts were exposed through a left toracotomy and MI wasproduced by suture occlusion of the left anterior descending artery(LAD) over a two mm silicon tube. The suture was opened after 30 min bycutting the silicon tube and reperfusion was re-established. Insham-operated mice, the suture was left open during the same time. Themuscle layer and skin incision were closed with a silk suture. Animalexperiments were approved by local authorities and complied with Germananimal protection law.

Met-MCP-1 Y13AS21KQ23R was dissolved in PBS at 100 μg/ml. Mice weretreated intraperitoneally with 100 μl each during ischemia (10 min afterligation), 2 hours after reperfusion, and every day until the end point.Control mice were treated in the same way with vehicle.

At indicated time points, mice were anesthetized and the heart functionwas analyzed using a Langendorff apparatus (Hugo SachsElektronik-Harvard Apparatus) and HSE Isoheart software under constantperfusion pressure (100 mmHg) and electrical stimulation to assure aconstant heart rate (600 bpm). The coronary flow, developed pressure,the increase (dP/dtmax) and decrease (dP/dtmin) in left ventricularpressure were measured without or with dobutamin (300 μmol in bolus).The measured parameters are displayed in FIG. 8 (upper-panel). At theend, the hearts were fixed in distension with 10% formalin and cut into5 μm serial slices.

Serial sections (10-12 per mouse, 400 μm apart, until mitral valve) werestained with Gomori's 1 step trichrome stain. The infarction area wasdetermined on every section using Diskus software (Hilgers) and expressas percent from total left ventricular volume (see FIG. 8, lower panel).

1. An MCP1 mutant protein with increased GAG binding affinity andreduced GPCR activity compared to wild type MCP-1 protein, wherein theMCP-1 protein is modified in a structure-conserving way by insertion ofat least one basic and/or electron donating amino acid or replacement ofat least two amino acids by at least two basic and/or electron donatingamino acids.
 2. The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, wherein at leastone amino acid of the first 10 amino acids of the N-terminal region ofthe wild type MCP-1 protein is modified by addition, deletion and/orreplacement of at least one amino acid.
 3. The MCP-1 mutant protein ofclaim 1, wherein the amino acids that are replaced by the at least twobasic and/or electron donating amino acids are non-basic amino acids. 4.The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, wherein the modification in astructure-conserving way is a deviation of the modified structure fromwild type MCP1 structure of less than 30%, and preferably less than 20%as measured by far-UV CD spectroscopy.
 5. The MCP-1 mutant protein ofclaim 1, wherein the basic amino acids are selected from the groupconsisting of R, K, and H.
 6. The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1,wherein the electron donating amino acids are selected from the groupconsisting of N or Q.
 7. The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, wherein atleast two amino acids at positions 21, 23 and/or 47 are modified.
 8. TheMCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, wherein the Y at position 13 issubstituted by an A.
 9. The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, containingan N-terminal Met.
 10. The MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1, wherein theN-terminal amino acid residues 2-8 are deleted.
 11. An MCP-1 mutantprotein, wherein the mutant protein comprises the amino acid sequence ofthe general formula:(M)nQ(PDAINA(Z1))mVTCC(X1)NFTN (Z2)(Z3)I(X2)V(X3)RLASYRRITSSKCPKEAVIFKTI(X4) AKEICADPKQ KWVQDSMDHL DKQTQTPKT wherein Z1 is selectedfrom the group consisting of P, A, G, L, wherein Z2 is selected from thegroup consisting of R and K, wherein Z3 is selected from the groupconsisting of K and R, wherein X1 is selected from the group consistingof Y and A, wherein X2 is selected from the group consisting of S, R, K,H, N and Q, wherein X3 is selected from the group consisting of R, K, H,N and Q, wherein X4 is selected from the group consisting of V, R, K, H,N and Q, and wherein n and/or m can be either 0 or 1, and wherein atleast two of the positions X2, X3 or X4 are modified.
 12. An MCP-1mutant protein having an amino acid sequence selected from the groupconsisting of SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:5, and SEQ ID NO:6.
 13. An isolatedpolynucleic acid molecule which encodes the MCP-1 mutant protein ofclaim
 1. 14. An isolated polynucleic acid molecule comprising anucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID No. 7,SEQ ID No. 8 or SEQ ID No. 9 and at least a part thereof.
 15. A vectorwhich comprises an isolated DNA molecule according to claim
 13. 16. Arecombinant cell which is transfected with the vector of claim
 15. 17. Apharmaceutical composition which comprises a protein according to claim1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 18. A method for inhibitingor suppressing the biological activity of the wild type MCP-1 protein invitro comprising using the MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1 in adiagnostic assay.
 19. A method for treating chronic or acuteinflammatory disease or autoimmune conditions comprising administeringthe MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 1 to a patient in need thereof. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the inflammatory disease is selectedfrom the group consisting of rheumatoid arthritis, uveitis, inflammatorybowel disease, myocardial infarction, congested heart failure andischemia reperfusion injury.
 21. An isolated polynucleic acid moleculewhich encodes the MCP-1 mutant protein of claim
 11. 22. An isolatedpolynucleic acid molecule which encodes the MCP-1 mutant protein ofclaim
 12. 23. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the protein ofclaim 11 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 24. A pharmaceuticalcomposition comprising the protein of claim 12 and a pharmaceuticallyacceptable carrier.
 25. A method for inhibiting or suppressing thebiological activity of the wild type MCP-1 protein in vitro comprisingusing the MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 11 in a diagnostic assay.
 26. Amethod for inhibiting or suppressing the biological activity of the wildtype MCP-1 protein in vitro comprising using the MCP-1 mutant protein ofclaim 12 in a diagnostic assay.
 27. A method for treating chronic oracute inflammatory disease or autoimmune conditions comprisingadministering the MCP-1 mutant protein of claim 11 to a patient in needthereof.
 28. A method for treating chronic or acute inflammatory diseaseor autoimmune conditions comprising administering the MCP-1 mutantprotein of claim 12 to a patient in need thereof.